Leverage points

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Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, by

Article by Donella Meadows

A much-quoted explanation of the multi-layer structure of complex systems, pointing to leverage points of increasing power where intervention is efficient. It is written mostly with social systems in mind, but the idea transfers very well to socio-technical and purely technical systems.

PLACES TO INTERVENE IN A SYSTEM

(in increasing order of effectiveness)

9 Constants, parameters, numbers (subsidies, taxes, standards).
8 Regulating negative feedback loops.
7 Driving positive feedback loops.
6 Material flows and nodes of material intersection.
5 Information flows.
4 The rules of the system (incentives, punishments, constraints).
3 The distribution of power over the rules of the system.
2 The goals of the system.
1 The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, power structure, rules, its culture — arises.

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I have referred to this frequently over the last weeks in debates about LLMs, more precisely about who they empower. But it’s interesting well beyond LLMs, for anyone working with managed systems.

Malleability can be interpreted at any of these levels, and often malleability at one level can be increased by letting go of malleability at another level. Vibe coding is a nice example: it increases people’s agency at levels 4 and 5, at the price of handing over level 3 agency to a handful of Big Tech corporations.

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